Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) Trading 1.7% Higher – Here’s Why

Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) shares traded up 1.7% on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $147.77 and last traded at $146.70. 3,887,990 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 68% from the average session volume of 11,996,810 shares. The stock had previously closed at $144.18.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. DA Davidson restated a “neutral” rating and set a $150.00 price target on shares of Oracle in a research report on Tuesday. Mizuho lifted their target price on shares of Oracle from $185.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. UBS Group reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Oracle in a research note on Tuesday. BNP Paribas raised shares of Oracle to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reduced their price target on shares of Oracle from $214.00 to $175.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Oracle has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $179.71.

Oracle Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.65, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 0.81. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $166.14 and its 200 day simple moving average is $169.34. The company has a market capitalization of $417.97 billion, a PE ratio of 36.35, a P/E/G ratio of 3.46 and a beta of 1.07.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last posted its earnings results on Monday, March 10th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.47 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.49 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $14.13 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.40 billion. Oracle had a net margin of 21.16% and a return on equity of 133.25%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.41 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Oracle Co. will post 5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Oracle Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Investors of record on Thursday, April 10th will be given a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.34%. This is an increase from Oracle’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 10th. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 39.12%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Safra Catz sold 2,101,154 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.35, for a total transaction of $389,448,893.90. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,118,592 shares in the company, valued at $207,331,027.20. This represents a 65.26 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 42.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Oracle

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. R Squared Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Oracle in the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Sunbeam Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Oracle in the fourth quarter valued at about $30,000. Winch Advisory Services LLC lifted its stake in shares of Oracle by 89.7% in the fourth quarter. Winch Advisory Services LLC now owns 184 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 87 shares during the period. Hurley Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Oracle in the fourth quarter valued at about $33,000. Finally, Synergy Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Oracle in the fourth quarter valued at about $34,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 42.44% of the company’s stock.

About Oracle

Oracle Corporation offers products and services that address enterprise information technology environments worldwide. Its Oracle cloud software as a service offering include various cloud software applications, including Oracle Fusion cloud enterprise resource planning (ERP), Oracle Fusion cloud enterprise performance management, Oracle Fusion cloud supply chain and manufacturing management, Oracle Fusion cloud human capital management, Oracle Cerner healthcare, Oracle Advertising, and NetSuite applications suite, as well as Oracle Fusion Sales, Service, and Marketing.